With the costs to do business being higher than ever with recent inflationary trends, insurance agents must be cost-effective and efficient in running their business. While certain expenses must be paid, there are other areas in which agents can focus on cost-saving measures.
Read on to learn our top tips for being a more cost-effective insurance agent, then reach out to us at Easy Insurance Pro for more information.
Ways to Be More Cost-Effective as an Independent Insurance Agent
Here are some ways you can be more cost-effective as an independent insurance agent:
Be efficient with every customer touch point.
Whenever you open a file or call a customer, make sure to be as efficient as possible. This means knowing what you want to accomplish before making contact and having a plan for the call.
If you are sending correspondence, check the file to see if you can do anything else to service it while you are already working on it. Have an outline when you call your customer to ensure you handle every detail during the call.
Maximize your in-office time.
As an independent insurance agent, you may split your time between the office and client visits. This means you must maximize your time in the office as much as possible. Eliminate distractions — close your office door, put yourself on do-not-disturb mode, and avoid checking your mobile phone.
Try a timed productivity hack like the Pomodoro Technique to help you accomplish more in less time.
Rely on technology to help reduce expenses.
Try different software or other technology to help you reduce your operating costs. While you cannot eliminate all your expenses, you can reduce them by working smarter. Various time management and agency CRM tools can help you by consolidating files, automating routine tasks, and developing customer communications.
Engage a chatbot to help manage customer inquiries — and with machine learning, your chatbot can get better as it learns from you.
Use social media and your website to aid in marketing and lead generation.
Independent insurance agents need to market themselves. In today’s world, this means having a website and utilizing social media to meet customers. Be sure your website is adequate and user-friendly. It should tell site visitors about you and your agency with a clear way for potential customers to reach you.
Set up social media handles to engage with customers and others in the industry. You probably already have a LinkedIn account, but many agents are finding success by using YouTube, Facebook groups, and Twitter to engage with customers.
Try an email marketing campaign instead of direct mail.
Since many of your potential customers are online, try using an email marketing campaign rather than a paper mail one. You can write a sequence of emails in advance — each message building on the last — and schedule them to be sent to your mailing list.
This reduces the cost of mailing paper materials and also lets you be more creative in your messaging since you can include links, infographics, and interactive content. It can take several messages before a cold contact is ready to engage and buy, so be sure to schedule a series of email messages in your marketing campaign to get the highest response level.
You can even do a test where you send two different email series to see which results in a better response.
How Do I Learn More?
To learn more about how to be a more cost-effective independent insurance agent, contact the experts at Easy Insurance Pro. Our licensed experts will be happy to answer any questions you have.
